Fruit paring machine



De. 8, 1931. J. w. PEAsE FRUIT PARING MACHINE Filed May 2, 1929 2 Sheets-Smet l INVENTOR @ATTORNEYS Dec. 8, 1931. .1. w. PEAsE FRUIT PARINCT MACHINE Filed May 2, 1929 2 sheets-sheet 2 Patented Dec. 8, 1931 UNITED STATES. j

PATENT lori-*1era*v g JOHN w. PEAsE, or Roonnsrnmnnwyonn raum Pertine- MACHINE Application 1i1ed May 2, 1929. Serial No. 359,895;

My presentV invention relates to fruit paring machines and more particularly to machines of thefnature of appleparing machines which usually embody relatively rotary hold- '.5 ing and paring elements by which the apples machines. The improvements herein relateV y to the push rod or similar element associated with the fork to doif theapple with precision and regularity, and the object is to improve the working conditionsof `this `push rod or doifer, whereby it will not become clogged ,T through accumulations of apple juice and bits a-Of pulp.

To these and other ends the invention resides in certain improvements and combinations of parts, all as will be hereinafter more fully described, the` novel features beingv 25 pointed out in the specification.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a front view of an apple paring machine constructed in accordance with and claim at the end of the illustrating one embodiment of my invention, .I` p

A on the forkby rst swinging'inwardly the lower portion of the framethereof being broken away;

' Fig. 2 is an enlarged longitudinal central section through the impaling fork shaft re- '3`5 moved; v p

Fig. 3 is a further enlarged collective view showing in side elevation the lower end of the impaling fork and the upper end lof the coring spoon in the relationship thatv they L0 assume just before the spoon enters an apple held on the fork;

Fig. 4 is a section on the line of Fig. 3, showing an apple (also in section)` on the fork and a section of a` previously cored [5 apple on the coring spoon, the 4paringknife being also shown in section-mits cooperation with the apple and in fullline at the endof its paring stroke; o n f 5 is a view similar to Figt 4 but show- 0 ing the parts in the positions they take at the instant the'apple is completely cored, and Fig. 6 is an enlarged horizontal-section 'through the fork shaft and extractor taken on the line 6-6 of Fig. 2. y x

Similar reference numerals throughout55 they several views indicate the same parts.

y I have illustrated my improvement as applied to thev machine ydisclosed V'in 'my said prior patent and, therefore, itis not deemed necessary to describe herein the complete ina- "50.

chine in detail. I will therefore 'describe 'briefly only` its major parts and point out `those parts which Iy 'have "improvedthrough thisinVen'tiOn andthe manner vin which I l.

"changed it; The frame 1 supports aparing LE25 machine operating fundamentally oir-the generalpri'nciple of the usual modern machine with' the exception kthat the impaling fork 2 and-its shaft 3 are Varranged vertically T andturned on a Xed vertical axis. They are 7'0 driven from a `driving shaft 4 which through gearinge, 6, 7, Sand 9 rotates the forl'rintermittently, which intermittent movement Yis effected through the intermediate cam or, .p timing gear 6 on a cam shaft 10.- The last ""7'5. Y gear 9 is secured, as kshown in-Fg. 2, tothe tubular fork shaft 3. c

A. laterally swinging feeder: arm 11 onza recprocatory vertical shaft 12 andk embodying a fruit holding cup 13 impales the 'apple n into' alinement with the latter and then movving upwardly along the'aXis of the fork in a straight line to the positionV shown inFig. 1,vv l at `which ltime the fork' is at rest.A This done, the feeder reverses itspath of movement and c Y gets out of the way. The paringl knife' 14, controlled through the camshaft 10,5 next movesup into engagement with thelower or blow end of the apple, as shown ini dottedf'o lines in Fig. 4, andthenceswings in the usual way through the path ,indicated bythe arrow through the position shown in full line inthe said ligure to the positionshownin dotted'r lines above, .at which point the apple has"")5 been kcompletely pared, the fork, of course, being inirota'tion` during this time. ContinuedA movementof the knifeas usual `carries it clear of the completely pared apple and ico fork, as shown in fulllines in Fig. 5i

While the fork is still rotating, the coring spoon 15 swings up from the position of Fig. 1 to that of Figs. 3 and 4 in alinement with the fork and thence travels along its axis in a straight line from the position of these figures to that of Fig. 5, entering and coring v the apple, whereat the fork is again brought 4, so that the apple was cored and pared si- Vmultaneously.

Thus the rotating apple in its security upon the fork was subjected all at once to the doublel strain of the corer and the parer. In the case of soft applesfand particularly those having softcores, the result was that the `apple was stopped or so retarded .by the two elements acting upon it that the fork acted in the nature of a drill, ythe proper vfunctions of the elements were prevented,and the apple severely mutilated or broken to pieces. With my present invention, I pare the apple first and, just as thisis completed and the knife has reached the upper dotted line positionof'Fig. 4,. the

coring spoon l5 moves into the apple or at yleast it `has not gone so far as to destroy the ygrip* of the fork therein which, of course, it

does as soon as it has cut the corel-from around the fork asin Fig. 5. In other words, the paring is completed before the tips of the fork and coring spoon have met or passed each other. The actuating pin 23 on` the gear 6 is so placed, as to engage the cam 24 on the lcover carriage 25 and accomplish this .correlative turning of the coring spoon.V

Referring now to Figs., 1 and 2, the shaft 3 of the paring fork is made hollow for the purpose of accommodating within it a vertically reciprocatory push rod 16 which `is adapted to move between the full and dotted line positions of Fig.' 2. As thus shown, it is held in a raised or retracted position by a yspring 17 (as in all iigures) and when depressed extends to the ends of the fork tines. At about the point shown in Fig. 45, this ejector krod 18 is depressed in timed relation to theother movements of parts by a bell crank actuating lever l9engaged by the cam lgear 6. I have found that the pulp of the apple'is apt to work up into thetube of the fork shaft jamming therein and drying the gumrnymass that'prevents the ejector rod from workingV properly and necessitates its removal for the purpose of cleaning the bore in which it slides.V To relieve this condition,

VI partially cut away the sides of the Vtubular Yshaft 3 at 20 as close to the fork 2 as possible,

as best shown-in Y This 4allows the pulp dbris to escape and keeps the bearing of the rod clean.

It will be borne in mind at this point that it is usual in paring machines of this nature to so arrange and time the parts that, beginning with the position of F ig. 5, the coring spoon 15 moves downwardly carrying the apple with-it and leaving the core on the fork 2. Thereafter the ejecting rod 16 operates, in such cases, to dofl1 the core from the forkwhile 4the apple is being dofied from the spoon at a point below. With the present machine, the arrangements and timings are such that therejecting rod 16 is actuated at the point illustrated in Fig. 5 immediately at the end of the coring operation and while the apple, coringspoon, fork and core are all associated together'.l That is, the reverse of the just described roperation is etliected in that the core is carried away later providing the ej ecting rod 16 functions properly.

With structures such as have-been so far herein described, Veven the ejector 16 does not always effect the removal of the corefrom the apple before the coring spoon carries the apple away, which it does by a return movement in the same path, that is,y rst downwardly in a straight linev and then with a swinging movement back to the normal position shown in Fig. 1.v During the said swingv lng movement, the corer passes between theV arms of a do'fl'er fork 21 which throws the apple to one sidev while the core is supposed to drop below ,into another receptacle. .To insure separation of the apple from both spoony and core at thisr doliing point 21a, I provide the spoon 15 with an inwardly ejector spur or projection inclined in a direction .away from its point and indicated at-v22.

The core being indicated at C, F 4 illustrates the case in which the core and apple were carried away together `from the fork vand the coring spoon isy coming back with that core on'it ready to enter the next apple, the spur 22 having served to extract the core vat lthe doiflng point 21` and left the apple free. This, of course, represents an extreme case of the persistence of the core as in nearly yevery case the core will fall oli the spoon 15 during the movements of the core from t-he doifer 21 wherethe apple is` freed to the normal position of Fig. 1 and then up to 1 the position of Fig. 4. If however the latter position is reached` with the core still sticking to the coring spoon, the entrance of the spoon into the next apple will dislodge it and allow it to fall with certainty.

- With the instrumentalities described, there is a very small chance of a core being detained yin the apple as the latter leaves the dofler.

21 and inasmuch as, for canning purposes, a

single corewith its seedsand cell walls practically spoils a can of apples, the use of this invention will very materially reduce the losses heretofore sustained in this way and effect the successful paring and coring and clean delivery of apples of a grade not other- Wise suitable.

I claim as my invention:

In an apple coring machine, the combination with an apple impaling and holding fork, a tubular rotary shaft therefor, and a coring spoon having cooperative relationship with the fork, of a reciprocatory nonrotatable core ejecting plunger itting loosely Within and nowhere-as great in diameter as the bore of the tubular fork shaft, said fork shaft being provided With a lateral disohargeopening immediately adjacent to the bases of the fork tines adapted to free the plunger from the resistance of bits ofV apple entering the tubular fork shaftfrom the vicinity of the fork and the plunger being removable from the shaft in a .direction away from the fork.

JOHN W. PEASE. 

